M1 road (Johannesburg)

The M1 De Villiers Graaff motorway is a major freeway in Johannesburg, South Africa. The highway connects the southern areas (including Booysens, Eldorado Park and Soweto) with the city centre and extends further north through Sandton. Construction began in 1975 and resulted in the demolition of many properties and houses including numerous historical Parktown Mansions.

The M1 officially starts at the Uncle Charlies Interchange with the N12 Southern Bypass in Ridgeway. It follows a route north towards the city and meets the M2 highway at the Crown Interchange (which is immediately south-west of the city centre). The M1 then proceeds north through the leafy northern suburbs of Johannesburg, and the industrial area separating Sandton and Alexandra. The highway's northern terminus is at the Buccleuch Interchange where it meets with the N1 Western Bypass and the N3 Eastern Bypass. The part of the M1 in Sandton, roughly between Corlett Drive and the Buccleuch Interchange is maintained by the SANRAL; with future plans of tolling for the highway. Signage and extra lanes have been upgraded in 2010 with the "Gauteng Freeway Improvement". While the section between Corlett Drive and a portion south of the CBD is maintained by the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) with the remainder to the South also maintained by the provincial government . The northern section maintained by the Gauteng Provincial Government is also designated the P206-1 .

Johannesburg

Johannesburg (/dʒoʊˈhænᵻsbɜːrɡ/; Afrikaans: [joˈɦɐnəsbœrχ]; also known as Jozi, Jo'burg, eGoli, and Joeys, and abbreviated as JHB) is the largest city in South Africa. It is the provincial capital of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. The city is one of the 50 largest urban agglomerations in the world, and is also the world's largest city not situated on a river, lake, or coastline. The city was named and established in 1886 following the discovery of gold on what had been a farm. The city is commonly interpreted as the modern day El Dorado due to the extremely large gold deposit found along the Witwatersrand The name is attributed to one or all of three men involved in the establishment of the city. In ten years, the population was 100,000 inhabitants. While Johannesburg is not one of South Africa's three capital cities, it is the seat of the Constitutional Court, which has the final word on interpretation of South Africa's constitution as well as with issues in connection with constitutional matters. The city is the source of a large-scale gold and diamond trade, due to its location on the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills.

Johannesburg (disambiguation)

Johannesburg is a city in South Africa.

Johannesburg may also refer to:

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Union Observatory

Union Observatory was an astronomical observatory in the suburb Observatory, Johannesburg, South Africa. It bears IAU code 078.

Known as the Transvaal Observatory until 1912, it became the Republic Observatory in 1961. Well remembered for the quality of its Directors, work done on minor planets and the discovery of Proxima Centauri, growing light pollution problems in Johannesburg led to its closure in 1971-1972.

At that time the South African government decided to amalgamate all astronomical research into one body, which later became known as the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO); it has its headquarters in Cape Town and has Sutherland as its outstation. The main Cape telescopes were moved to Sutherland, and the Radcliffe Observatory at Pretoria was also dismantled.

Union Observatory went through a number of name changes: